Composing-stick.



(LF. MEGHLER.

GOMPOS-ING STICK. APPLmuI'oHHLED un 1, 1014.

Patented July 7, 1914.

CHARLES F. MEGHLER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COMPOSING-STICK.

amarres.

Specification of Letters latent.

Patented July 7, 1914:.

Application filed May 1, 1914. Serial No. 835,588.

T 0 all 107.10m it may concern Be it known that l, CI-iAnLEs F.Mnci-ILER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at` rlhis invention rela-tes tocomposing sticks i such as are used by printers for setting type, andthe object of the invention is to provide a stick in which the movableknee member maybe readily shifted to different positions and yet may besecurely locked in place in such a manner as to entirely eliminate thepossibility of the knee slipping or springing out of alinement.

Composing sticks have heretofore been produced in which the movable kneemember was locked in placeby interengaging notches or teeth onthe kneememberand the'body portion, and these teeth have been of various shapes,square, rounded and V- shaped, but in none of the prior sticks, so faras l am aware, could the knee member be positively held from accidentalslighty dis-y placement under some conditions.

l accomplish my object by providing interlocking teeth of novel andpeculiar shape on opposite sides of the knee member and the body portionrespectively, said teeth having one edge straight and parallel with theend wall of the body portion, or the flange of the knee member, and theother edge of the teeth being inclined toward said straight edge. Theteeth on the knee member, of course, are complementary ink shape tovthose on the body portion. By providing interlocking teeth of thischaracter, the c0- operating straight edges of the teeth act to preventany movement of either edge of the knee member longitudinally of thebody portion, even though the knee member is not rigidly clamped to thebody portion on account of looseness of the clamping parts or for otherreasons.

ln the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a composingstick embodying the features of my invention. Fig. 2 is a front edgeview of the stick. 3 is a section taken in the plane of line 3--3 ofFig. 1. Fig. 4 is the rear side elevation of the movable knee memberdetached from the body of the stick, and Fig. 5 is a fragmentaryunderside elevation of the forward portion of the stick and the kneemember. ln the preferred form illustrated in the drawings, my composingstick comprises a botte-m or base plate 6, which may be of generallyrectangular shape, said plate having rigidly fixed thereto an end wall 7and va rear wall 8. lf desired. the base plate 6 and the rear wall S maybe formed of an integral piece of sheet metal.. ltigidly secured to theforward or inner side of the rear .wall S is a strip 9 having a seriesof teeth 10 formed in its lower edge. Thestrip 9 and the base plate 6form a groove 11 adapted to receive a part on the movable knee member tobe presently described.

Secured to the underside of the base plate 6, adjacent to its forwardedge is a strip 12 having a series of teeth 13 in its forward edge, saidteeth being positioned slightly rearwardly of the forward edge of theplate 6: Preferably the strip 12 is beveled toward the rear yso 'thatwhen the composing stick is laid upon a flat surface, asillustrated inFig. 3, only the forward portion of the strip 12 and the rear vportionof the base 6 will Contact with the surface. This construction rendersthe stick perfectly stable when resting on a flat surface, and obviatesthe liability of the stick to Atilt forwardly in case pressure should beplaced upon the forward edge thereof.

The movable knee member 14 comprises a transverse ange 15 disposedparallel to the end wall 7, anda flange 16 lying alongside of the rearwall `8, vthe latter flange normally contacting the strip 9. A springclip 17 pivoted at 18 to the flange 16 is adapted to embrace said Hangsand .the rear wall8 to secure the knee member in place, said clip havinga thumb-piece 19 for operating it. At the lower rear side of the flange16 of the knee member is a rib 20 having at its upper side a suitablenumber of teeth 21, said rib and teeth lying within the groove 11 in therear wall and cooperating with the locking teeth 10. At the forward edgeof the knee member la is a downwardly and rearwardly turned flange 22having teeth 23 to interlock with the teeth 13 on the strip 12.Particular importance is ascribed to the shape of these locking teeth.As will be seen from Figs. 1 and 2, the edges of the teeth 10 and 13facing the end wall 7 are straight and parallel to said end wall, or inother words, lie in planes extending at right angles to the stick. Theopposing edges of the teeth are inclined toward Said straight edges. Theteeth 21 and 23 of the knee member are, of course, of

complementary shape to interlock with the teeth 10 and 13. Theinterlocking teeth are depended upon exclusively for holding the kneemember against displacement, the spring clipv 17 serving only to holdthe knee member in place with the teeth in engages ment. Owing to thefact that interlocking teeth are provided both at the rear side and theforward edge of the knee member, and. due further to the fact that theAabutting'E edges of the locking teeth on the body and? the knee member,respectively, are straight and parallel with the end wall 7, it will bevimpossible for the knee member to be sprung out of alinement withsaidvend walll even ifi the knee member is given ya slight amount ofplay due to looseness of the clamp 17 or from other causes. VAbsoluteand indestructible alinement. is o-neof the essential features of asuccessful composing stick of this characf the strip 12 are rounded andsmoothed in order to avoidannoyance or injury to the hand of theoperator holding the stick.

vWhen it is desired'to adjust the width of the column of type being set,the spring clip 17 is swung upwardly out of ,c engagement with the rearwall 8,' the knee member is moved forwardly to disengage theinterlocking teeth and then longitudinally of the body of thel stick,and finallyrearwardly into engagement with the teeth in its new i inpresence of two witnesses.

tact. ""s willbe understood, vmy invention provides a composing stick inwhich themovable'knee member is easily and quickly adjustableto anydesired position, and at the same time is capable of being positivelylocked so as to entirely obviate any danger of slippage or disalinement.

I claim as my invention: y v,

ln' a composing stick, in combination, a body portion comprising a baseplate having secured thereon an lend wall and a back wall, the latterhaving a row oflocking teeth at its forward sidesaid base plate having arow of locking teethadjacentto its forward edge, the sides of all ofsaid teeth whichface said end wall being straight vand parallel to saidend wall andthe opposite sides of said v teeth being inclined, and aknee member movably mounted on said body portion and having lockingteeth. at its forward and rear edges complementary in shape to the firstmentioned locking teeth and adapted to cooperate therewith; and a clipmounted on the knee member and., adapted to engage ysaid body portion tovhold the knee member in position with the straight'walls ofjsaidvlocking teeth inengagement'with each other'a the forward and'rearside ofthe stick.

lntestimony whereof I affix my signaturel j f enseigner. MEGHLER.Witnesses: j f C. PAUL PAR-RER, y y

GEORGE L. CHI'NDAHL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,A byaddressing* the Commissioner of Patents,

` Washington, D.' 0; i 7

